dmm revolver carabiners for top rope climbing

I got a shattered heel from using a revolver at the top point when
I thought there would be too much friction for the second on a zigzagging line. Consider yourself forewarned.

My climber is my ten year, old sixty pound daughter. I tend to keep a fairly tight belay on her allowing just enough slack in the rope so I'm not hoisting her up the wall. I also weigh about three times her weight and keep an eagle eye on her the whole climb. We work as a team and my adrenaline is pumping as much as hers is while she's climbing. I could see throwing the belay person around if you were using a larger pulley set up but I wouldn't have thought that the case for a pulley as small as on the revolver. Good information to know.

Jan Tarculas wrote: I don't think majority of people actually read the comments and just go ahead and post their opinion

Consensus is don't do it.

Agree with all of the above. I'll add that the one instance I've used the revolver for top rope climbing is when placing a top rope on a wide ice climb. I've used a single screw and a revolver maybe 10 feet below and 10 feet to the side of the master point to redirect the rope to in effect allow a different top rope setup without moving the whole anchor. Obviously use common sense as this may not work well in all situations but is a pretty efficient way of moving a top rope to a new route in the right situation.

Isn't the radius of the pulley small enough to negate any reduction in friction by the bearings? It's been ages since I've seen this discussed but I recall the consensus was the roller was too small to act as an effective pulley.

Ray Pinpillage wrote:Isn't the radius of the pulley small enough to negate any reduction in friction by the bearings? It's been ages since I've seen this discussed but I recall the consensus was the roller was too small to act as an effective pulley.

I've tried hauling a partner up a wall to test it and the revolver did haul much easier than a regular biner on the lower point. It wasn't far off from an el cheapo pulley. Compared to two higher quality petzl pulleys the difference was noticeable though, I could pull her up with one arm using them.

Revolver is great on wandering or large directional changes though. I girth hitch it on a runner and use the locker to not worry about gate opening if the hitch moves.